Chances?

Colleges and Universities A-Z College of William and Mary
1

<p>Gender: F
Race: Caucasian
State: Maryland
High School: Large public
Major: Undecided as of now, though I'm interested in the extremely unrelated fields of biology (particularily genetics), sociology, and economics.</p>

<p>SAT: 2300 (CR: 770, M: 740, W: 790)
ACT: 35
GPA: 3.6 UW (not very impressive, I know), 4.56 W
Rank: Top 10%</p>

<p>Sports:
JV Indoor Track & Field (9)
Varsity Indoor Track & Field (10-12)
JV Softball (9)
Travel Softball Team (9-12)
Varsity Tennis (10-12)</p>

<p>Music/Arts:
Drama (9-12), lead roles in 11 and 12
Vocal Ensemble (9-12)
Concert Choir (9-12)
Women's Choir (10-12)
A Capella Pop Choir (10-12)
All-County Chorus (9-12)
All-State Chorus (10-12)
Piano (9-12)</p>

<p>Honors:
National Honor Society (11-12)
Thespian Honor Society (10-12)
Music Honor Society (10-12)
Foreign Language Honor Society (12)
AP Scholar
National Merit Scholar Commended
Superior rankings at County and State Solo and Ensemble festivals</p>

<p>Leadership Positions:
Varsity Tennis Captain
Varsity Indoor Track & Field Captain
Class Secretary (9-12)
Student Government Association (9-12)
Treasurer of Music Honor Society (11) and President (12)
Clerk of Thespian Honor Society (11) and Treasurer (12)
Secretary of National Honor Society (12)
VP of Foreign Language Honor Society (12)
Key Club VP (11) and President (12)</p>

<p>Work:
Part-time job (11, 12)</p>

<p>Volunteer:
Summer camp for underprivileged children (9, 10, 11, 12)
Medical center volunteer (10, 11, 12)
Key Club (10, 11, 12)
Students Against Destructive Decisions (10, 11, 12)</p>

<p>APs:
Music Theory (5)
US History (5)
Chemistry (4)
Calc AB (4)
World History (5)
Human Geography (5)
Lang (5)
Lit (5)
Biology (4)
French (5)</p>

<p>Misc.:
High demonstrated interest
Strong essays
Great recs
I usually do well in interviews</p>

2

<p>You have a very strong resume - your standardized scores and AP course load is very good, and your extracurriculars sound exhausting :)</p>

<p>Your uw GPA isn’t exactly stellar, but top 10% helps to put that in perspective - I wouldn’t worry about that, myself. </p>

<p>Typically, there’s this informal recommendation wrt AP courses - that is, Calc, Physics, Chem, Bio, and 4 years of a foreign language, and it looks like you’ve hit all of them, save Physics. So, if possible, you might consider taking AP physics senior year.</p>

<p>As you say you’re a strong interviewer, you should schedule an interview soon, if you haven’t already. It’s not critical, but it can only help you.</p>

<p>Your SAT cumulative score is excellent, but I wouldn’t place much stock in the writing component. I know it sounds trivial, but a re-take can’t hurt you, and the adcoms are on record as encouraging re-takes - and an extra 30-40 points could make a difference - you never know.</p>

<p>Keep in mind, everyone will have “strong essays” - don’t get complacent, because a “great” essay can separate you from a crowded field of near-perfect GPA’s and SAT scores. It’s your only chance, really, to transcend the scores on a piece of page, and become a living, breathing person to the admissions counselors. Remember, it’s not a “test”, it’s a chance to introduce yourself - what do you want them to know about who you are, and what makes you unique? There are lots of ways to approach your essay, but I feel like, in the end, it should be deeply personal and revealing of who you are. </p>

<p>And do take advantage of the optional submission, and, if you plan to continue your work in music/theatre, consider a performance submission for review - [William</a> & Mary - Arts Submissions](<a href=“http://www.wm.edu/admission/undergraduateadmission/applicationprocess/artssubmissions/index.php]William”>http://www.wm.edu/admission/undergraduateadmission/applicationprocess/artssubmissions/index.php)</p>

<p>(disclaimer: I don’t know much about the arts programs here, just something to consider investigating)</p>

<p>Finally, if fin aid isn’t an issue, you’ll have a far greater chance to stand-out if you apply ED.</p>

<p>The thing to keep in mind, here, is that that the competition for OOS females, especially from MD, is daunting - there are far more well-qualified applications than can possibly be admitted. So, work to improve your application in every way you can, even if each detail seems insignificant. And any efforts you make won’t be wasted, as what’s true for W&M is true for any other selective school.</p>

<p>Anyway, best of luck!</p>

3

<p>@Squiddy</p>

<p>Thank you so much! That response was so helpful and informative. I really appreciate it.</p>

4

<p>“Typically, there’s this informal recommendation wrt AP courses - that is, Calc, Physics, Chem, Bio, and 4 years of a foreign language, and it looks like you’ve hit all of them, save Physics. So, if possible, you might consider taking AP physics senior year.”</p>

<p>I have never heard that all those are recommended…I HAVE heard repeatedly that Calculus and 4 years of a language are benchmarks. Physics is looked for as well, but not necessarily AP. I think the general advice of taking the most challenging course work your school offers while getting mostly A’s holds true. To single out what classes one must take to gain admission may lead to either an overload of work for some, and severe disappointment for those who do this, expect admission, and then do not. (Just read some of the blog comments…).<br>
I do think that interviewing well, sending in every optional submission, including Arts…regardless of whether this is an intended major, and showing passion in interests over quantity of volunteer hours makes a difference. Of course, this is all empirical data. </p>

<p>For what it’s worth, my daughter was admitted with lower SAT scores, GPA and took only 1 Science AP course (but 9 APs in English and Social Sciences and the Arts). She took the benchmark courses (including AP Calc) and got mostly A’s in the courses she took. But so did many, if not most applicants. I believe she was admitted because you could pick up her application, read all parts and really get a sense of who she was, not just what she did. </p>

<p>Chance wise…I think you are a very strong applicant. Take AP Physics only if you think you can do well in it without sacrificing other grades. Try to be in the top 10% of your class.
You have great leadership experience…be sure you share your passions…what makes you tick, what moves you, why you are involved in the things you are involved in. My daughter had lots of similar things on her application. She used the short answer part of the common app to expand on one of her leadership positions to show her commitment. She then used her common application essay and her supplement essay to tell the Admissions Committee who she was AWAY from all that was already written. When you think about it, you are so much more than your accomplishments. Write about you…make the Admissions Committee want you to be part of the Tribe Community. </p>

<p>Good Luck!!</p>

5

<p>@momneedsguidance</p>

<p>Just fyi, that recommendation (which, of course, isn’t cast in stone) comes from an article in the alumni magazine regarding William and Mary admissions - the relevant sections says:</p>

<p>

</p>

<p>Note that the article is mostly silent on what level these courses are - but your observation of “taking the most challenging curriculum available” is spot-on, as is the rest of your advice. </p>

<p>I’m no adcom, so my advice should be taken with a huge grain of salt - I just know that an OOS female applicant from the Mid-Atlantic region faces long odds, so my take-away is “leave nothing on the table” …</p>

6

<p>Agreed! I thought you were suggesting all those sciences should be AP level. Loved the baseball analogy he gives :slight_smile: He also points out that the discussion regarding the courses is brief. Must mean all that other stuff is the interesting stuff. Almost like getting a checklist out of the way, and saying, “OK, let’s get to the good stuff!”</p>

7

<p>As far as that baseload goes, I was admitted not only to W&M but to the Monroe Scholars program as an out-of-state female from NJ with much of the same APs, almost the same SAT score, a slightly higher GPA and class rank (top 1%) and terrible ECs compared to yours. As far as the bases analogy is concerned, I did at least take biology, chemistry, physics, calculus and 4 years of language, but the only APs I did in those subjects were AP Chemistry my junior year and AP Calc AB and AP Spanish, both taken my senior year (I did take AP Enviro, but I don’t think that really demonstrates mastery of biology). So I think as long as you have those classes, taking them at the AP level is not really necessary. My high school was one where AP sciences were offered as a 2-year sequence, so I think W&M respected my decision as someone interested in the liberal arts to take biology and physics at the honors and forgo taking the APs to focus on AP and honors classes that really interested me. However, I would not recommend taking AP Stats or Enviro at the expense of honors or regular-level Calculus and Physics, but I can see from your courses listed of AP Calc that at least calc is covered.</p>